December 9, 2009

This is yummy, healthy comfort food, served warm on a cold winter night. Traditionally it is made with milk and sugar, however, it is very easy to make with non-dairy and non-sugar ingredients and just as yummy. My friend Teresa liked my tapioca dessert so much last night she had more with her breakfast this morning.

Tapioca is made from the starch from the cassava tuber. It is made into flour as well as pellets and pearls. It’s light and fluffy made with eggs, but I am working on my recipe without eggs – stay posted. The flavor of tapioca is fairly neutral, making it an excellent choice of thickener for both sweet and savory style foods. Tapioca also has little nutritional value- so the nourishment is from coconut milk and eggs in this recipe.

1/3 cup Small Tapioca Pearls (I used Bob’s Red Mill for this recipe)

1 cup water

2 cups coconut milk (lite or regular)

pinch seasalt

2 organic eggs separated

½ cup water (keep handy in case it gets too thick)

1/3 cup maple syrup or agave syrup

½ t Vanilla Extract (I use Frontier, organic made with glycerine, no alcohol)

Soak the pearls in water for 15-20 minutes in a saucepan.

Beat yolks into coconut milk with pinch of salt, stir into saucepan with soaked pearls. Cook on medium heat until it comes to a boil and lower heat (use a flame tamer if you have one) and simmer, stirring often. You wouldn’t want to burn this yummy dessert.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites with agave or maple syrup. If you can get the whites to peak, great, other wise, gently fold into tapioca and stir for 3 minutes.